Survey: Impact of COVID-19 on Coworking Spaces

The 2020 report presented findings from a SocialWorkplaces.com survey of close to 50 coworking-space operators conducted between 13 and 16 March 2020. Responses came from Europe, the United States, Australia, China and India. The report examined the early effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on coworking businesses, including reduced member attendance, cancelled events and changing member behaviour. It documented measures operators had introduced or considered, such as providing sanitiser, strengthening cleaning procedures, reducing available seating, suspending events and day passes, moving community activities online and temporarily closing operations. The report also described members’ reported concerns about infection in shared spaces or during commutes, financial losses, business survival and the possible loss of their workspace and community. It summarised the messages operators were communicating about hygiene, social distancing, remote work, government guidance and mutual support. Finally, it recorded expectations that companies might reconsider remote-working policies after the crisis and outlined differing operator views on possible medium-term demand, distributed private offices, online community services and acquisitions by better-capitalised businesses.

Key findings

• 47% of surveyed coworking spaces around Europe said they had been very much or dramatically affected, while 7% reported no impact on daily business.
• 34% of respondents identified members staying home as the largest impact on their space, while 20% identified event cancellations.
• 41% expected companies to rethink how employees worked after the crisis, 50% expected slight behavioural changes and 4% expected attitudes to teleworking to remain unchanged.

Published by Social Workplaces, 2020